I've been interested in the Royal Charter because my two great great uncles were both shipwrights on its building. They lived in Beaumaris until 1850, when they moved to Chester where they got a job in a boatyard.

I first dived the wreck of the Royal Charter in 1972.

The ship didn't really sink because the water wasn't very deep where it came to ground, but all the remains of the ship are now under the sand.

So when you dive down to the sea bed, you've got to excavate the sand with heavy equipment to get down to the wreck itself. There is about 200 feet of the length and six to nine feet in height left. The metalwork under the sand is well preserved.

Amongst the things we've found are the engine room fittings, tools for loading the boilers and for raking the ashes, jewellery, a very nice photograph of a lady, a few pieces of a pocket chess set, a pair of ladies suspenders made out of brass chains, bottles of wine, Schweppes bottles and two empty bottles of sloe gin.

In the 1970s the Receiver of Wreck allowed us to keep the items we found, but in later years we were asked to report our recoveries in accordance with the Merchant Shipping Act.

I've met many people with an interest in the Royal Charter through my work at the church, especially from Australia. A few years ago a I met a gentleman whose uncle, Henry Carew Taylor, survived the disaster. He was travelling with his daughter, but sadly she died. His nephew had succeeded in getting his uncle's travelling chest rescued from the wreck.

It was a tradition in those days to bury the dead from a shipwreck in the parish where they were washed up. So most of the local churches along this coast of Anglesey have Royal Charter victims buried in them, particularly in Llanbedrgoch, Llanallgo, Penrhos Llugwy and Llanwen Llwyfo. One person was even washed up on the Isle of Man and is buried there.

We always felt they should make a programme or film about the Royal Charter. My sister was in television for years and she tried to find a producer, but never succeeded.

There have been a few short programmes and a play by Barry Williams of Llangefni. It was performed on Anglesey many times and was very good - something like that would come over very well.

Peter Day